Elune's words sent a shockwave through Rhodes's heart.
Azeroth wanted to see him? The slumbering, gestating last Titan of the Pantheon—the World-Soul of the planet itself? And Azeroth had already developed self-awareness? This was ten thousand years in the past!
This far exceeded Rhodes's expectations. He had assumed Elune's summons was, at most, a warning or an inquiry—perhaps a few questions about the Burning Legion. He never expected to be pulled into a meeting with the fundamental core of the planet.
In the lore of World of Warcraft, the combat power of Titans has always been the "ceiling." In the finale of the 7.0 expansion, players didn't actually defeat Argus; he one-shotted the entire raid in a single move. They only succeeded because the other Titans were released and pooled their power to imprison Sargeras. While the 8.0 expansion tried to elevate the Eternal Ones to the same level, they never possessed the same raw intimidation or presence.
Rhodes was curious about what Azeroth truly was. In early lore, she was a slumbering Titan; later, writers changed her into the most powerful and potential-filled Titan; and eventually, they hinted she wasn't a Titan at all, but something peerless. Some players even speculated Elune was Azeroth, but clearly, that wasn't the case—Azeroth wouldn't be "sisters" with the Winter Queen.
"Azeroth... wants to see me? Great Moon Goddess, I am overwhelmed. I do not know why the World-Soul herself would summon me," Rhodes asked tentatively.
"Do not be surprised, stranger. Your arrival is like a stone cast into a still pond; the ripples have disturbed the threads of fate," Elune said, nodding to him. "Even in her slumber, she felt your presence as a 'variable.' Relax your mind. Do not resist. I will guide your consciousness to the rift between reality and dreams—the deepest part of the Emerald Dream. That is where her consciousness is most active, and where you will speak with the planet herself."
Elune felt a slight lingering amusement. A mortal comparing her beauty to Azshara's had annoyed her slightly, but she had enough grace to let it go; many Highborne had done worse without being punished. She had only teased him because his flattery was actually quite pleasant to hear—no wonder he had charmed Azshara.
The true reason for the summons was Azeroth's command. Though Elune was a true goddess, she was in some ways a subordinate deity to the World-Soul. When Azeroth eventually awakened, every deity in her vicinity—even those in the Shadowlands—would effectively become her subjects.
"I understand, Great Elune. I am ready," Rhodes said, taking a deep breath.
"Very well. Empty your mind. Your body will remain here; your soul will follow me."
As Elune began to cast, a gentle but irresistible force wrapped around Rhodes's consciousness. The jade walls of the temple melted away like wax, and he felt his spirit being pulled from his shell. He felt himself hurtling through a tunnel woven of moonlight and green leaves, a symphony of wind, water, and growing things roaring in his ears.
He entered a world of primal green.
The feeling of weightlessness vanished. Rhodes found himself standing in a place of indescribable splendor: The Emerald Dream. The sky was a soft jade, filled with glowing jellyfish-like spirits. Ancient trees, long extinct in the real world, took root beside rivers of liquid light. The air was so thick with life energy it felt like drinking from a fountain of youth. In the distance, mountains looked more perfect and "idealized" than reality.
Originally, this place was a "backup" created by the Titans to reset the world if it ever became irreversibly corrupted. Later lore suggested it was a dream of a goddess, discovered rather than created by the Life-Binder Freya. Rhodes could sense the raw, surging life energy here; it seemed Azeroth's base state was that of a Life-aspected deity.
"This is... the Emerald Dream," Rhodes whispered. He could feel his own Life magic vibrating with intensity.
"Specifically, it is the domain closest to her core," Elune's voice echoed in his mind, her form appearing as a guiding light. "Only Freya and I have ever been here. You are the third. Not even Ysera, the Dreamer, has reached this core. Continue forward. She is waiting."
Rhodes walked through forests of glowing mushrooms and over streams of stardust. Finally, he reached a vast, open meadow of soft white light. In the center was an indescribable "presence."
It wasn't a physical form, but a vortex of pure energy, starlight, ley lines, and the whispers of a trillion lives. It was so massive that language failed to capture its scale. It pulsed like a beating heart, or an infant curled in a womb, synchronized with the breathing of the planet itself.
The World-Soul of Azeroth.
Standing before her, Rhodes felt as small as a speck of dust. The Holy Light, Arcane, Life, and even Shadow energies within him fell silent, as if paying homage to the source. This was a true God. Even unborn, her power was terrifying. And Rhodes noticed something: she didn't just possess Life energy; other powers were swirling within her.
Sensing Rhodes, the spirit of Azeroth fluctuated. A gargantuan silhouette formed in the air—a blurry female figure of incomparable holiness and beauty.
"Great Azeroth, I have come at your summons," Rhodes said respectfully.
"...Outsider... Traveler from beyond the stars... Like the Titans, you come from another world, yet you are different from them," Azeroth's voice vibrated directly into his consciousness. "You wonder why I called you, do you not?"
"Great Azeroth, I assume you have guidance for me. I dare not speculate," Rhodes replied.
"There is no need for that. Of all mortal life on this world, I value you most. You possess a power from another world that exists outside the Six Primal Forces—something no native of this world, nor this universe, possesses. Furthermore, you are one of the few capable of mastering all six forces. You are like me."
"The Six Primal Forces?" Rhodes asked.
"Indeed. Normally, a mortal cannot contain more than two forces without being torn apart. But you can hold Life, Death, Light, Shadow, Fel, and Arcane. This is the key to the Supreme. While mastering one force can make you a demigod or a true god, merging all six is the path to becoming a Progenitor-level being.
"Do you know? I was not originally a 'Titan.' I was simply a World-Soul. Perhaps I would have been like them, perhaps not. But the Pantheon found me and decided I was one of their own. They set up barriers to protect me and forcibly injected me with the force of Order. Thus, I mastered my second power. Then they built the Shadowlands to collect the souls of this world—and through the Shadowlands, I mastered the power of Death."
"Goddess... you mean the Shadowlands weren't created by the First Ones, but by the Titans?"
"Correct. If the First Ones had created it, the Eternal Ones would be my equals, and they would govern the death of the entire universe, not just the souls of a single planet."
Rhodes nodded. It made sense; every soul in the Shadowlands was from Azeroth. How could that represent the cosmic force of Death?
"Then the Old Gods arrived," Azeroth continued. "They tried to transform me with Shadow. But for me, this was an opportunity. They sought to corrupt me, but I instead absorbed their power. Thus, I gained Shadow. I realized then: if I can collect all Six Primal Forces, I will be born in the most perfect state possible."